Struggling with 18mo behaviour

[Queendedede]

He wakes 3+ times a night, sometimes settles back to sleep quickly, sometimes not. He is moany, clingy and obsessed with me during the day (his Mum) I can't be out of his sight otherwise he shouts and shouts for me (also when he wakes at night). I'm exhausted and emotionally drained. How can I make this better?

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Has he always been like this? Just asking as there is a growth spurt and a sleep regression at this age

[Queendedede]

He has always been a frequent night waker but was improving until about 3 weeks ago when it got worse again. He has also always been a Mummy's boy but at the moment he has really stepped it up a level....or three!! How long would the spurt/regression last?

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

There's a article about the sleep regression on ask moxie. Hope that answers your questions on that one.

I'm not too sure on the mental leap at this age, there is some info on 17 months here but I think it's a lot to do with processing language.

Wanting you is pretty normal too, there are some tips on separation anxiety here.

This book is supposed to be good but I've never read it myself.

Hope some of this helps

[Queendedede]

Thank you so much for taking the time to help

[gubbinsy]

My DS went through a pretty awful period about this time - almost two now and it did pass. I think I remember reading that there can be a real peak in separation anxiety around this time plus a sleep regression. Big language development often happens between 18 months and 2 as well so they have lots going on!

[Queendedede]

Yes I think the separation anxiety is definitely peaking at the moment! He seems a bit better today and was easier to settle during the night, he even accepted DH settling him at one point - a small miracle in itself! He has been ill the last few days too, which hasn't helped I guess.

[Joneseygirl77]

I've got a nearly 19mo dd and we're currently getting more wakeful periods in the night. It's been ongoing for over 3 weeks now- she's much more restless and is waking earlier than usual and it's much more of a battle to get her to bed. She's also doing shorter naps at nursery and is waking in the middle of her nap and they're finding it harder to get her to go back down. They say it's common at this age to have more restless shorter sleeps and they do go back to normal eventually!

I'm putting it all down to 18mo sleep regression can't wait for it to end!!

[tintinenamerique]

Watching with interest as this sums up my nearly 18 month old perfectly. Up again at 4.30 this morning. He's also started crawling again. Not sure what that's about.